Having gone down one cul-de-sac and discovering the DUP at the end of it, refusing to allow a border down the Irish sea, the government set off down another. The prospect of a UK wide customs arrangement must have seemed like a good idea to provide the backstop. But now we find the EU at the end of the new cul-de-sac, demanding access to UK waters for EU vessels (HERE) in return. May has now entered panic mode with The Times this morning reporting (HERE) the latest backstop plan is to go back down the first cul-de-sac and have a border down the Irish sea.
So, after eighteen months of negotiations and a 300 page withdrawal agreement almost ready, this is what it has come down to. The government dashing from one blind alley to the next and then back to the first.
It looks like either the fishermen or the DUP will be sold out. This is what was always to be expected and negotiating the detail of the future relationship will be even worse. Meeting every leavers expectation is impossible (perhaps meeting any is impossible, who knows?) and for every satisfied group or body there will be another one absolutely furious.
At the moment then, the DUP look certain to vote against the deal. David Davis has said MPs will probably vote against it (HERE) and so has Steve Baker and presumably the ERG (HERE). The SNP will vote against it and Labour will too. Unless we can get out of any backstop unilaterally, Liam Fox will vote against it.
This was always the problem with the government's approach of negotiating in a vacuum and suggesting that to reveal their strategy would somehow weaken their hand. They had a weak hand anyway but the secrecy surrounding the negotiations meant all the vested outside interests could believe they were going to get what they wanted. Meeting all the conflicting demands of Brexit was never going to be possible, but for many, discovering at the very end you have been betrayed will be infuriating.
It would have been better to get all the disappointment out of the way early on in the process and for everyone to see and agree the painful and difficult trade offs that were always going to be necessary.
In the end Brexit will be destroyed by the Brexiteers themselves.
